Alias - XB - Preview

It’s a crime that
we only get to see Jennifer Garner once a week on ABC’s hit television series
Alias. She’s a near flawless woman; handy with high-tech gadgets, able to bail
her man out of drunken bar brawls with martial arts butt-whipping, and looks
that could and do kill. Acclaim Entertainment knows this and is banking on
Garner to power Alias atop gamers’ wish lists this fall when it comes out for
Xbox and Playstation 2.

Acclaim was very
adamant about keeping the game true to the nature of the television series, so
they enlisted the writing team, the voice talent, and even the costume designer
responsible for the television series. It appears as though Acclaim has
accomplished its task; the story is television worthy, the voice acting is well
above par, and Garner looks delectable in tight pants.

Alias is a
combination of stealth, espionage, and combat. The stealth portion typically
involves Sydney (Garner’s character) sneaking around unseen or creeping up
behind enemies before crippling them with submissive holds, which sounds like a
good way to go. The espionage portion entails Sydney picking locks and hacking
computer systems in a set of mini-games. Tension is added to these simple
mini-games through the use of an innovative split-screen system that shows
guards en route to discovering her handiwork. It’s a ticking-clock type of
suspense without the passé ticking clock. The combat system, although a little
sluggish, allows the flexible Sydney to concentrate on one target, or perform
wide strikes to afflict multiple targets. Sydney has a whole arsenal of
attacks, counters, and disarms to use on her would be assailants. One of the
cooler parts of combat is the ability to improvise weapons. Almost anything in
the game that seems weapon-worthy can be used as a weapon. Sydney can wield a
frying pan, a rolling pin, or just about anything else she can grab (use me as a
weapon!).